Inquiries, Investigations, and Immersion

Quarter 4- Module 6: Population and

Sampling Methods
 What I Need to Know

This module will help student researchers to understand the different types
of population and sampling in quantitative and qualitative research. The
student-researchers would need to narrow down the population and build a
sample to collect data.

The module is divided into two lessons:

 Lesson 1 – Population and Sampling for Quantitative research
 Lesson 2 – Population and Sampling for Qualitative research

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. describe how probability sampling differs from non-probability sampling;
2. define generalizability and describe how it is achieved in probability samples;
3. identify the various types of probability samples and provide a brief description of
each;
4. define non-probability sampling and describe instances in which a researcher
might choose a non-probability sampling technique; and
5. describe the different types of non-probability samples;
 What I Know

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write the chosen letter on a
separate sheet of paper.
1. Which of the following is the BEST choice as an essential question for a research paper
about life on planets?
a. Why would being the closest or c. What are the planets we
farthest planet from the sun affects know have life on them?
the ability to sustain life?
b. Why is there no life on the moon? d. What factors affect a planet’s
ability to sustain life

2. Identify the Population: Magsaysay National High School randomly selected 230 teachers
to find out which technology resource is the most effective. Thirty teachers chose Safari
Montage, 45 selected Learn Zillion,
100 chose Ed Puzzle, and 55 chose Kahoot. GCPS concluded that all
teachers prefer Ed Puzzle.
a. 200 teachers c. 55 teachers
b. 100 teachers d. all teachers

3. A survey will be given to 100 students randomly selected from the Grade
11 classes at Magsaysay National High School. What is the sample
population of the study?
a. 100 students c. all senior high students of
b. all grade 11 in MNHS MNHS
d. all the senior

4. Ideally, samples for qualitative research should follow the concept of .

a. interpretivism c. saturation
b. population d. sampling

5. Simple random sampling is a sampling method.

a. confusing c. probability
b. non-probability d. target population
 Lesson
Population and Sampling for
1 Quantitative Research
On module 6, we discussed about the different research designs. Research designs are the plans of
your research study. They are needed because they facilitate the smooth sailing of the various research
operations, thereby making research as efficient as possible yielding maximal information with
minimal expenditure of effort, time and money. Now let us have a review on the previous lessons.

What’s In

Read, analyze, and answer the given topic and answer the questions that follow. Write your answers
on your notebook.

Research Topic: Investigating Age and Sleep Patterns

Research has shown that the human body clock is very important in determining sleep and wake
patterns. Your task is to design a study that investigates the relationship between ages and sleep
duration.

Question:

1. What kind of research design is used in the study? Justify your answer.

Participants

In terms of sampling, who will be your target population and what type of sampling will you
use? Justify your choices.

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 What’s New

Identify the following statements as P for population and S for sample. Write your answers on your
notebook.

1. 𝟓𝟒% of the respondents to the poll at a university indicated that wealth is needed to be
distributed more evenly among the people.
2. Are students in the Sabangin National High School proficient on the national assessment
in Mathematics? In 2018, schools were evaluated after all the examinations taken by the
students in the SNHS. More than 𝟓𝟐% of those students was at or above proficient on the
said assessment.
3. Does talking on mobile phones while driving distract people? Researchers measured the
reaction times of 𝟑𝟖 studied participants as they talked on mobile phones and found that
the average level of distraction from their driving was rated 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 out of 𝟓.
4. A survey with1353 Filipino household respondent found that 8% of the
households own a computer.
5. A recent survey of 2625 elementary school children found that 28% of the children could
be classified as obese.

What is It

To answer the research questions, it is expected that you should be able to

collect data from all cases. However, it would be impossible to do so
especially for a large population of sample. Thus, there is a need to select a
sample size. This lesson presents the steps to go through to conduct
sampling. Furthermore, as there are different types of sampling techniques
or methods, as a student-researcher, you need to understand the different
ways to select the proper sampling method for your study. This lesson
presents the different types of sampling techniques. There are two types of
sampling methods: probability sampling and non-probability sampling. Each
of these methods includes different types of techniques of sampling. Let us
first discuss probability sampling.
Quantitative researchers like you are often interested in being able to
generalize about groups larger than their study samples. While there are
certainly instances when quantitative researchers rely on nonprobability
samples (e.g., when doing exploratory or evaluation research), quantitative
researchers tend to rely on probability sampling techniques. The goals and
techniques associated with probability samples differ from those of
nonprobability samples. You will explore those unique goals and techniques
in this lesson.

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When you conduct research with a large group of people, it is rarely possible
to collect data from every person in that group. Instead, you select a sample.
Based on the definition we discussed a while ago; a sample is the group of
individuals who will participate in the research. Drawing valid conclusions
from your results, you must carefully decide how you will select a sample
that is representative of the group.
Let us answer this research question: What is the prevalence of HIV in the
adult Filipino population?
The best response to this question will be obtained when we test every adult
Filipino for HIV. However, this is logistically difficult, time consuming,
expensive, and difficult for a single researcher – do not forget about ethics of
conducting such a study. The government usually conducts an exercise
regularly to measure certain outcomes in the whole population –the census.
However, as researchers, we often have limited time and resources. Hence,
we will have to select few adult Filipinos who will give consent to become
part of the study. We will test them for HIV and present out results (as our
estimation of HIV prevalence). These selected individuals are called as
“sample.” Hope that you have selected the appropriate sample that is
required to answer your research question.
As student researcher, you should clearly and explicitly mention the
sampling method in the manuscript. The description of these helps the
reviewers and readers in assessing the validity and generalizability of the
results. Furthermore, as researchers you should also acknowledge the
limitations of your sampling method and its effects on estimated obtained in
the study. Try to answer now the activities on the next part of this module
and see how you will have your sample size.
As with most recruiting methods, sampling is the beginning tool to
determine if the person or respondent is qualified for the research study.
Most of us spontaneously undergo the process of sampling. If some of us
tried some new clothes in the market which are trendy and stylish, other
people in the group may assume that this could be the newest trend or
fashion. The basic idea of sampling is to draw inferences about the
population by selecting some of its elements. Some sampling terminologies
are given below:

Population. It is any complete group (i.e., people, sales territories, stores,

etc.) sharing a common set of characteristics. It can be defined as including
all people or items with the characteristic one wish to understand and draw
inferences about them.

Sample. It is a subset or a part of a larger population. It is “a smaller (but

hopefully representative) collection of units from a population used to
determine truths about that population” (Creswell, 2015).

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Once the research question and the research design have been finalized, it is
important to select the appropriate sample for your study. The method by
which you select the sample is the sampling method. Again, there are two
essential types of sampling methods: (1) probability sampling which is based
on chance events (such as random numbers, flipping a coin etc.); and (2)
non- probability sampling which is based on researcher's choice, population
that is accessible and available.
Random sampling method (such as simple random sample or stratified
random sample) is a form of probability sampling. It is important to
understand the different sampling methods used in research. The method
used should be mentioned clearly in the research paper. As researcher, you
should not misrepresent the sampling method in the manuscript such as
using the term “random sample” when the researcher has used convenience
sample. The sampling method will depend on the research question.
For instance, the researcher may want to understand an issue in greater
detail for one population rather than worry about the teen aged pregnancy of
these results. In such scenario, the researcher may use random sampling
for the study.
Sampling is a statistical procedure that is concerned with the selection of
certain individual observation from the target population. It helps in making
statistical inferences about the population. Sampling design refers to the
technique or procedure used by the researcher for selecting items as
samples from the population or universe.
Designing the sample calls for three decisions:

 Who will be surveyed? (the sample)

 How many people will be surveyed? (sample size)
 How should the sample be chosen? (sampling)

Types of Samples for Quantitative Research

Probability samples are a type of sample wherein members of the population
have equal chance to be selected as subject in the research. (See figure 1)

 Simple random sample. Every member of the population has a known and equal
chance of being selected.
 Stratified random sample. Population is divided into mutually exclusive groups such
as age groups and random samples are drawn from each group.
 Cluster (area) sample. The population is divided into mutually exclusive groups
such as blocks, and the researcher draws a sample of the group to interview.
 Systematic sampling is where every case after a random selection is
selected. For example, if surveying a sample of consumers, every fifth
consumer may be selected from your sample. The advantage of this
sampling technique is its simplicity.

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 PROBABILITY SAMPLING
TECHNIQUES

Simple
Random
Sampling Systematic
Sampling

Cluster
Stratified Sampling
Sampling

Figure 1. Sampling Techniques for Quantitative Research

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 What’s More

Match the pictures in Column A with their corresponding sampling technique

found in column B. Write your answers on your notebook.

Column A Column B
1.
a. Sampling methods

b. Simple Random Sample

2.
c. Systematic sample

3. d. Stratified Sample

e. Cluster Sample
4.

What I Have Learned

Fill in the blanks with the correct terms to complete the following
statements. Answers may be more than one word. Write your answers on
your notebook. (2points each)
1. In a research design, and are two important terms. A
population is a group of individuals that share common connections.
2. A is a subset of the population.
3. The is the number of individuals in a sample.
4. The representative the sample of the population, the more confident
the researcher can be in the quality of the results.
5. In , the aim is to identify a sample that resembles the population
from which it was drawn.
6. There are four types of probability samples including ,
, , and .

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 What I Can Do

In this activity, you will apply the basic concepts of population and sampling
techniques. First, you need to analyze the paragraph and then answer what
are asked. Write your answers on your notebook. (5points each)
The current Corona Virus (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted and changed
lives on a global scale since its emergence and spread from China in late
2019. It has caused millions of infections, and thousands of deaths
worldwide. However, the control of this pandemic still remains unachievable.
Therefore, this study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of
senior high school students towards the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of
1,500 respondents were included in this preliminary report. A survey of
knowledge, attitude, and perceptions towards the 2019 Corona virus
pandemic in the Bataan province found that majority of the respondents
had a61.6% satisfactory knowledge of the disease while the attitude of most
respondents towards instituted preventive measures were 68.9% satisfactory
and only 22% of the respondents were satisfied with their country’s handling
of the pandemic.
Formulate the Research Questions of the study:
Identify Population of the study:
Identify the Sample size of the Study:

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 Lesson
Population and Sampling for
2 Qualitative Research
Common sense and research both involve an attempt to understand various aspects of our world.
However, research but arguably not common sense, involves an explicit, systematic approach to
finding things out, often through a process of testing out our preconceptions.

This process begins with deciding on your research question as student-researcher. Again, it is
necessary to conduct your literature review and to decide on a research design which addresses the
research question. Decisions made at this point include considering what kind of data you will be
collected, and who will be invited to participate.

In our first lesson, measurements tell you how often or how many people were selected for the study.
Your research question involves exploring how much or how often something happens. It is probably
appropriate to use quantitative research.

If the research question involves exploring how people experience something or what their views are,
exploring a new area where issues are not yet understood or properly identified (e.g., before
developing questionnaire items), assessing whether a new service is implementable, and looking at
‘real-life’ context, or a sensitive topic where you need flexibility to avoid causing distress, the study
needs to be discussed through qualitative research. Qualitative research attempts to broaden and/or
deepen our understanding of how things came to be the way they are in our social world. The
activities on this module will help you better understand the non-probability sampling for your
qualitative study.

What’s In

Read each statement carefully. Identify if the statement is a Non-Probability Sampling or Probability
Sampling. Write your answers on your notebook.

1. Sample selection based on the subjective judgment of the researcher.

2. Not everyone has an equal chance to participate.
3. The researcher does not consider sampling bias.
4. Useful when the population has similar traits.
5. The sample does not accurately represent the population.
6. Finding respondents is easy.
7. The sample is selected randomly.
8. Everyone in the population has an equal chance of getting selected.
9. Used when sampling bias must be reduced.
10. Useful when the population is diverse.

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 What’s New

In a non-probability sample, individuals are selected based on nonrandom

criteria, and not every individual has a chance of being included. This type
of sample is easier and cheaper to access but it has a higher risk of
sampling bias. You cannot use it to make a valid statistical inference about
the whole population.

Nonprobability sampling techniques are often appropriate for exploratory and

qualitative research. In these types of research, the aim is not to test a
hypothesis about a broad population, but to develop an initial
understanding of a small or under-researched population.

What is It

Qualitative student-researchers typically make sampling choices that enable

them to deepen understanding of whatever phenomenon it is that they are
studying. In this lesson, we will examine the strategies that qualitative
researchers typically employ when sampling as well as the various types of
samples that qualitative researchers are most likely to use in their work.
Non-probability sampling refers to sampling techniques for which a person’s
(or event’s or researcher’s focus) likelihood of being selected for membership
in the sample is unknown. Because we do not know the likelihood of
selection, we do not know with non-probability samples whether a sample
represents a larger population or not.
In most cases, it is acceptable because representing the population is not
the goal with non-probability samples. The fact that these samples do not
represent a larger population does not mean that they are drawn arbitrarily
or without any specific purpose in mind.
In the following discussion about the types of non-probability samples, we
will take a closer look at the process of selecting research elements when
drawing a non-probability sample. But let us first consider why a student-
researcher like you might choose to use a non-probability sample.
Non-probability samples are ideal when we are designing a research project.
For example, if we are conducting survey research, we may want to
administer our survey to a few people who seem to resemble the folks we are
interested in studying in order to work out kinks in the survey. We may also
use a non- probability sample at the early stages of a research project, if we
are conducting a pilot study or exploratory research.

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This can be a quick way to gather an initial data and help us get ideas of the
lay of the land before conducting more extensive study. From these
examples, we can see that non-probability samples can be useful for setting
up, framing, or beginning research but remember that it is not only the
early-stage research that relies on and benefits from non-probability
sampling techniques.
There are number and variety of instances in which the use of non-
probability samples make sense. We will examine several specific types of
non-probability samples in the next discussions. See concept explanation
below for better understanding. See Figure 2 for better understanding.

Non-probability
Sampling Methods

purposive snowball quota convenience

sampling sampling sampling sampling

Figure 2. Non-probability Sampling

Types of Nonprobability Samples

There are several types of non-probability samples that researchers use.

These include purposive samples, snowball samples, quota samples, and
convenience samples. While the latter two strategies may be used by
quantitative researchers from time to time, types of nonprobability samples
are more typically employed in qualitative research because they are both
non-probability methods.
To draw a purposive sample, a researcher must begin with specific
perspectives in mind that he or she wishes to examine and then seeks out
research participants who will cover the full range of perspectives.
For example, if you are studying students’ satisfaction with their living
conditions on school, you will want to be sure to include students who stay
in each of the different types or locations of on-school in your study. If you
only include students from 1 of 10 housing conditions, you may miss
important details about the experiences of students who live in the other 9
homes of which you didn’t include in your study.

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While purposive sampling is often used
when one’s goal is to include
participants who represent a broad
range of perspectives, purposive
sampling may also be used when a
researcher wishes to include only people
who meet very narrow or specific
criteria. For example, in her study of the
Paradox of Research: The Learning
Engagement of Senior High Students in
Magsaysay National High
School, A Grounded Theory, L. Dela Cruz (2019), used purposive sampling
to the senior high students. The Recherche Grounded Theory: prior learning
experience, values towards interpersonal communication, understanding of
research process, social relationships with group mates and peers, and
financial matters. However, the researcher encountered difficulties in
undertaking group/partner research projects.
Meanwhile, there are qualitative researchers who sometimes rely on
snowball sampling techniques to identify study participants. In this case, a
researcher might know one or two people she would like to include in her
study but then relies on those initial participants to help identify additional
study participants. Thus, the researcher’s sample builds and becomes larger
as the study continues where a snowball builds and becomes larger as it
rolls through the snow.
Snowball sampling is a strategy which is useful when a researcher wishes to
study some stigmatized group or behavior.

Example: You are researching experiences of homelessness in your city. Since there is no list of all
homeless people in the city, probability sampling is not possible. You meet one person who agrees
to participate in the research, and she puts you in contact with other homeless people that she
knows in the area.

Snowball sampling is sometimes

referred to as chain referral sampling.
One research participant refers another,
and that person refers another, and that
person refers another—thus a chain of
potential participants is identified. In
addition to using this sampling strategy
for potentially stigmatized populations,
it is also a useful strategy to use when
the
researcher’s group of interest is likely to be difficult to find, not only because
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of some stigma associated with the group, but also because the group may
be relatively rare.
Quota sampling is another nonprobability sampling strategy. This type of
sampling is actually employed by both
qualitative and quantitative researchers,
but because it is a nonprobability
method, it is included in this lesson.
When conducting quota sampling, a
researcher identifies categories that are
important to the study and for which
there is likely to have variation.
Subgroups are created based on each
category and the researcher decides how
many people (or documents or whatever element happens to be the focus of
the research) to include from each subgroup and collects data from that
number for each subgroup.

Example: Hypothetically, a researcher wants to study the career goals of male and female employees in
an organization. There are 500 employees in the organization, also known as the population. To
understand better the population, the researcher will need only a sample, not the entire population.
Further, the researcher is interested in particular strata within the population. Here is where quota
sampling helps in dividing the population into strata or groups.

Finally, convenience sampling is another non-probability sampling strategy

that is employed by both qualitative
and quantitative researches. To draw a
convenience sample, a researcher
simply collects data from those people
or other relevant elements to which he
or she has most convenient access.
This method, also sometimes referred
to as haphazard sampling, is most
useful in exploratory research. It is also
often used by journalists who need
quick and
easy access to people from their population of interest. If you have ever seen
brief interviews of people on the street on the news, you have probably seen
a haphazard sample being interviewed. While convenience samples offer one
major benefit—convenience—we should be more cautious about generalizing
from research that relies on convenience samples.

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 What’s More

Read and analyze each question and statement below then choose the correct
answer. Write your answers on your notebook.
1. Which is not a feature of qualitative sampling?
a. Samples tend to be small and studied intensively.
b. Participants are selected randomly.
c. Sample members are not pre-specified.
d. Sample selection is driven by conceptual ideas rather than for
representativeness.
2. It is called as volunteer sample, most easy, economical, and not preferred
approach even in qualitative study.
a. Convenience sampling
b. Purposive sampling
c. Quota Sampling
d. Snowball sampling
3. It selects cases that will most benefit the study, several diverse approaches to meet
conceptual and substantive needs of research, sampling for representativeness or
comparative value.
a. Convenience sampling
b. Purposive sampling
c. Quota Sampling
d. Snowball sampling
4. Probability sampling is rarely used in qualitative research because:
a. It is very old-fashioned.
b. It is often not feasible
c. Qualitative researchers are not trained in statistics.
d. Research questions are more important than sampling.
5. The minimum sample size for qualitative interviewing is:
a. 30
b. 31
c. 60
d. It is hard to say.

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 What I Have Learned

Carefully read each statement or question below then fill in the blanks with
the correct answer. Answers may be more than one word. Write your
answers on your notebook. ( 2points each)
1. Nonprobability samples might be used when researchers are conducting , by
evaluation researchers, or by researchers whose aim is to make some theoretical
contribution.
2. A , also referred to as a judgmental or expert sample, is a type of
nonprobability sample.
3. is defined as a nonprobability sampling technique in which the
samples have traits that are rare to find.
4. as a nonprobability sampling method in which researchers create
a sample involving individuals that represent a population. Researchers choose these
individuals according to specific traits or qualities.
5. Convenience sampling is a type of in which people
are sampled simply because they are "convenient" sources of data for researchers.

What I Can Do

Answer each question in a clear and organized paragraph. Each

paragraph should include a clear and precise (1–2 sentences) that
directly addresses the question promptly. Each short answer question is
worth a total of 5 points. Use the rubric for this assessment to evaluate
your response. Write your answers on your notebook.

1. Imagine that you are about to conduct a study of people’s use of gadgets in answering
their modules in your barangay. Explain how you could employ each of the
nonprobability sampling techniques described previously to recruit a sample for your
study.
2. Of the four nonprobability sample types described, which seems to be the strongest for
you and which seems to be the weakest? Explain your answer.

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 Assessment

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answers on your
notebook.
1. What is the main difference between probability and non-probability sampling?

a. Probability sampling c. Non-probability sampling is

involves the need for the
computation of a sample via
certain equations.
b. Randomization is involved in
probability sampling.
preferred in qualitative research.
d. Non-probability sampling is
more appropriate for interviews.

2. During the conduct of his survey, Lucas chose his respondents by ensuring that they
are those who can provide him the needed data for his study. The type of non-
probability sampling that he utilized is known as:
a. Convenience sampling c. Snowball sampling
b. Judgment sampling d. Quota sampling

3. Ideally, samples for qualitative research should follow the concept of

.
a. approximate c. saturation
b. interpretivism d. sampling

4. A type of probability sampling where the researcher randomly selects groups from an
assemblage then considers the population for each selected group to be engaged in the
study.
a. Cluster sampling c. Stratified random
b. Simple random sampling sampling
d. Systematic sampling

5. A type of non-probability sampling where the required sample and sample per stratum
is determined and complied, however, it lacks randomization in the selection of the
respondents for the study.
a. Convenience sampling c. Snowball sampling
b. Judgment sampling d. Quota sampling

6. Maricel determines her respondents by asking people as to who would be most suited
for her study. Through this, she is referred from one respondent to the other. What
type of non-probability sampling has been utilized?
a. Convenience sampling c. Snowball sampling
b. Judgment sampling d. Quota sampling

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 7. Which of the following is an example of random sampling technique?
a. Taking the name of every person c. Generating names by five on the
in a telephone book. list of everybody in your
b. Generating a list of numbers by phonebook.
picking numbers out of a hat and d. Taking every 10th or 20th name
matching these numbers to names from a list of everybody in the
in the telephone book. telephone book.

8. Quantitative research only works if:

a. You talk to the right
number of people c. You ask the right questions and
b. You talk to the right type of analyze the data you get in the
people right way
d. all of the above

9. Cluster sampling is often preferred to other random sampling strategies because it:
a. can be used when a c. equally represents all groups
sampling frame is not in the population.
available. d. allows you to easily identify
b. is more complicated than subgroups in the population.
simple random sampling.

10. Convenience samples are frequently used in student research because they:
a. Are more appropriate for c. Take less time and
statistical analysis. money.
b. Are preferred by d. Yield representative
instructors. samples.

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 Additional Activities

Select the appropriate sampling methods or techniques for the research

questions given below. Write your answers on your notebook.. (2 points
each)

1. You want to study and understand the rice consumption pattern across
Dinalupihan. While it might not be possible to cover every household, you
could draw meaningful insights by building your sample from different districts
or villages (depending on the scope). What sampling technique will you use?
2. Suppose a supermarket in Orani wants to study the buying habits of their
customers. The student-researchers will choose every 10thor15th customer
entering the supermarket and conduct the study. What sampling technique will
they use?
3. If 38% of the population is college-educated and 62% of the population has not
been to college, then 38% of the sample is randomly selected from the college-
educated subset of the population and 62% of the sample is randomly selected
from the non-college-going population. What kind of sampling method do they
use?
4. This method is often used during preliminary research efforts to get a gross
estimate of the results, without incurring the cost or time required to select a
random sample.
5. You need the sample to reflect certain features that are difficult to find. You
want to conduct a survey of people who go jogging in a certain park every
morning. What sampling method is appropriate for this study?

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